Eliza Jane Merriwether is excited about her new job as a schoolteacher in Little Hickman Creek, Kentucky. But when she first rides into the tiny, dirty town, she can't help but second guess her decision to relocate. Firmly believing that God wants her there, the little firecracker warms the heart of even the hardest citizen.

Benjamin Broughton is a widower raising two daughters alone, and not doing so well at it, to his thinking. He feels he's failing at raising his girls, and the thought that if he only had a wife to help him comes to mind daily. When the new schoolteacher moves in to his grandfather's house on his property, he keeps an eye on her - simply being a good neighbor. But when his feelings for her become more than neighborly, will the mail order bride he ordered take obligatory precedence in his emotions, or will Liza be the future Mrs. Broughton?

Liza showed remarkable gumption when she learned the town ran off three teachers in as many years, but she stuck to her guns, and her faith even when it seemed like coming, (and staying) seemed like the worst decision possible. The characters really stick with you, and makes you want to know more about each one of them. A very interesting story that kept my interest from the first page.